Welcome to my Food Journey

Curious Southern Cook on a journey to learn...and to create exceptional dining experiences. I love entertaining and preparing food for loved ones & friends and sharing those experiences with others. My wish is that you will be fed too. Bon Appetite!

Add 2 cups of the Black Eyed Peas, Onion, Dressing and Olive Oil to a pot and heat on low until warm.With stick/immersion blender begin processing til almost smooth (I like it a little chunky).Add remaining cup of Black Eyed Peas and continue heating until heated through.Serve with crackers of your choice.Enjoy!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Having just returned from Maine with the family, I found that as in previous trips to this same beautiful island with very rustic accommodations... I wanted to challenge myself to stretch the ole culinary horizons.

In all of my previous visits there had been a red tide ban on foraging for mussels and oysters, but not this time. Each night we had either a lobster dish using lobsters purchased from the lobster-man or one using fresh oysters and/or mussels that were picked at low tide by husband Neil and son Bradford.

There was no power, no plumbing... just nature and family. The tiny kitchen in the cabin where we stayed had a small stove and refrigerator that ran on propane and water from a cistern that collected rain water.

On this evening we called "Bisque Night" family and guests gathered for happy hour. Prolific Gin and Tonics, cheese and crackers and a surprise... an oyster appetizer that I created just to precede the main event, Lobster Bisque. There were unbelievers among us though... those that would turn up their noses and proclaim that they "did NOT like oysters". I had prepared enough for everyone, so when the unbelievers heard the praises proclaimed from the others...they became brave and their status quickly changed to believers.

I had no name for this glorious dish and asked for recommendations. My daughter Sara's beau Michael, who is a writer, suggested Oysters Napoleon and so we have it.

From our island family: Neil, Sara, Michael, Hannah, Bradford and Yours Truly, plus Margo, Larry, Lea, Anne and family visitors Martha and Jim... we implore you to try Oysters Napoleon. If you do, you certainly will love it!

Oysters Napoleon

INGREDIENTS

12-18 fresh oysters
(cleaned, shucked just before ready to bake)

8 slices of thick slab bacon

10-12 green onions, washed and sliced thin

1 1/2 cups chopped parsley

7 cloves garlic, minced fine

2 t worcestershire sauce

10 shakes hot sauce, or to taste

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 lemon, cut in half

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Shuck oysters,
place on baking sheet and set aside

Topping:

Fry bacon in a skillet, remove to cool, chop and set
aside

Pour off most of the bacon grease retaining about 1 T

Place green onions, parsley and garlic in the skillet
with heat on medium, sauté stirring for about 7-8 minutes

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Evening before last my friend Terrie Roberts posted on Facebook that she had overbought okra at the Farmers' Market and... "did anyone want some?" Well, my love for okra goes way back and I couldn't help but to respond in the affirmative. My intent was to fry part and use the rest for gumbo, but our dinner was mostly ready and it would have to wait. In the mean while I began to study other ways to prepare it and ran across an article on okra in Southern Living. One of the recipes called to grill it. I used that recipe as a place to start, changing it a little and ended up with the one below. It should be a great way to get any okra snobs in your family to try it. They will be hooked for life.

Grilled Okra

Yield: 4 servings

Note: You will need 8 wooden skewers

Ingredients:

32 whole okra washed and stem end trimmed (8 per person)

4 t olive oil

3/4 t salt

1/2 t ground black pepper

1/2 t garlic powder

Method:

Preheat grill and turn down to medium.

In a bowl place the okra, add rest of the ingredients and mix to coat with clean hands.

Place 8 okra on 4 skewers, alternating tops and bottoms, run the other 4 skewers through the opposite ends.

You are ready to grill… about 3 to 4 minutes on each side (be careful when turning and taking up as they become soft and can come off the skewers).

Monday, June 10, 2013

I love this time of year when Mother Nature gives us her best fruit and berries. When I was a little girl we would go foraging for berries down the path at the fish camp and have cobbler at every meal. Now... we have a prolific Blackberry vine on the side of our house and this year have an abundance of big, juicy Blackberries to eat fresh or transform into tasty treats. Aside from cobbler (and don't get me wrong, I love cobbler) I will be experimenting with new ways to enjoy them. I found that by combining with Mango and other ingredients, you can make a dee-licious MBQ, er, uh...BBQ Sauce. I'm my husband's Grillfriend...and this sauce on country ribs and sausage earned me some extra points...wink, wink! Savor summer's bounty and make your own sauce, you won't go back...I promise.

MBQ Sauce

(Mango, Blackberry Q Sauce)

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients

Flesh of 1 Mango, peeled and rough chopped

1 cup ripe Blackberries, rinsed and drained

½ Red Onion, rough chopped

Juice of 1 Lime1 Chipotle Pepper

1 stick of Butter

½ cup Brown Sugar

¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce

½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika

½ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon ground Black Pepper

Method

Place Mango, Blackberries, Red Onion Chipotle Pepper and Lime Juice in a Vitamix or Blender.Process until pureed.

Strain fruit/veg puree into a pot.

Add remainder of ingredients, stir until combined.

Turn on heat to low/medium and let reduce for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Let cool and use as you would your favorite BBQ Sauce.

Store any unused portion in the refrigerator in a container with a tight fitting lid.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

The blackberries on our side fence are just starting to ripen. There aren't enough yet for a cobbler... so how do you best utilize them? You could freeze them until there are enough or combine with other seasonal and/or preserved ingredients for a tasty marmalade. This version is a quick small batch recipe. I have made and canned traditional marmalade that takes a couple of days (which is absolutely incredible), but this is easy, relatively quick and equally delicious. Try your hand at making marmalade...traditional or quick, it doesn't last long around here.

Berry Marmalade

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 orange processed:

-Wash, cut in half, cut off peel careful not to
include white pithy part

-Carefully julienne peel, set aside

-Cut off white part, exposing orange flesh

-Squeeze juice out of orange with hands into a
small container, set aside

-Rough chop orange into small pieces, set aside

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 cup whole washed blackberries

Pinch of salt

Method:

In a 2 quart saucepan add sugar, orange peel, juice and pieces and heat on low for about 20 minutes until it begins to bubble, stirring occasionally.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

I am really going to date myself with this post…but I am OK with that.

When I was a little girl, on Friday nights we would pack up after my Dad got home from work and travel about
an hour to one or the other Grandparents home for the weekend. If we went to Grandmother and Granddaddy Gleason’s
in Minden, Grandmother would have supper ready for us upon arrival, consisting
usually of spaghetti or fried chicken.
After dinner, we would watch television shows like “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”
or “The Brady Bunch”. The next morning after
cartoons and French toast, we would often buy fabric and sew a new outfit, play
outside with cousins climbing trees, or walk to the duck pond. My Grandparents loved “The Lawrence Welk Show”
so Saturday night; it was appointment television for the entire family. An idea has stuck with me all of these years
that I remember from what the Lennon Sisters (singing group appearing regularly
on the show) said about their family one night on Lawrence Welk. They shared that every Sunday whatever food was
leftover from the week in the refrigerator was placed in one pot, heated
through and was called… “MustGo”. It was their favorite meal.

Here in Louisiana the word “Gumbo” is often used as a
metaphor for our mix of cultures. As a
dish, Gumbo is a heavily seasoned stew-like concoction, combining several
varieties of meats or seafood with the texture of gravy made from a
Roux.

Remembering the Lennon Sisters, plus having most of the
ingredients to make a Gumbo (in one form or another); I decided to make
a “MustGo” Gumbo. It was delicious! What’s in your fridge/freezer/pantry? You too can make one of your own… after all it
is Sunday!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

I love my porch-time with neighbors. When the days start heating up and evenings are sultry, that means it's time to harvest a little mint and make a batch of "Mint Julep Syrup" for Juleps to share on the porch. We placed first in a competition for a variation of this recipe...so you could say that it has a winning heritage. It's another mixer base you can make and keep chilled in the refrigerator until ready to use. Cheers!

Mint Julep Syrup

Yield: 6 cups

Ingredients:

4 c
mint leaves, washed and rough chopped to bruise

4 c
water

4 c
sugar

Method:

In
a pot bring water just to a boil, add chopped mint leaves and stir for about 30
seconds.

Add sugar; stir until all sugar
is dissolved.Turn off heat.

Allow it to steep until completely cooled.

Strain syrup into a container to store in the
refrigerator.

To Make a Mint Julep:

In
a julep cup, double old fashioned or collins glass, fill halfway with crushed or shaved ice. Pour
1/2 oz. “Mint Julep Syrup” and 2 1/2 oz. bourbon over the ice and stir. Garnish with a mint sprig and enjoy.

Note: to make a larger quantity use 1 part syrup to 5 parts bourbon mixing in a container to pour into individual glasses.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

This
past Sunday, our neighborhood experienced a wonderful thing. We came together for three hours… in the
street… under a tent for a block party. We
all brought food to share, plus it was byod (drink) and byoc (chair). Neighbors of every description converged to
get to know each other a little bit better.
There was even a young couple that had just closed on their house last
Friday to join us and they will not even be moving in until June. What fun the children had… you should have
seen them (with a little help from adults) as they made a train with their
wagons, pulled by a motorized riding toy.

The
block party committee, which met earlier in the year, had determined the date (May
5) and because it was Cinco de Mayo requested that the food complement the theme. One neighbor made a family recipe of Paella
in a special pan street side. My contribution
was the Spiced Pork Empanadas that you find here in this post and our byod was Cinco Sangría de Fruta. A great time was had by all and until the
next block party, impromptu “porch time(s)” will be taking place all over the
neighborhood. Thank you to Andy Shehee for providing our tent. Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

I Love Crawfish, Mudbuds, Crayfish...what ever you call them, there's nothing like hosting a crawfish boil (or going to one), hot, spicey, succulent crawfish...Mmmmm! We are approaching the latter couple of months of "Live Crawfish Season", which usually ends about June. But...coming up is the 30th Annual Mudbug Madness, a four-day festival held here in Shreveport each Memorial Day weekend at Festival Plaza. Mudbug Madness is nationally recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events, drawing as many as 56,000 people in one day and has helped in creating a renewed interest in Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage. Here's a link to the scheduleincluding Entertainment and Crawfish Eating Contests. See what it's all about...come join us here in about 3 weeks and you'll be so glad you did.If you can't be here or don't have access to "Live Crawfish"... look for "Louisiana"
crawfish at your local market.

Also, with this post I have included a video recipe tutorial that was filmed for a recipe contest. I didn't win, but this recipe is a winner.

Puree with an immersion blender until smooth while coming up to temperature (about 10 minutes), (May use a regular blender and process in small batches, keep pressure on lid with a towel, return to pot - CAUTION, will be HOT)

Add Crawfish back in, continue to heat until back up to temperature (about 5 minutes)

Add Cream Sherry (1/4 -1/2 cup to taste), stir, serve and enjoy

(Optional) Have Pepper Sauce available for your family or guests to add to their individual servings to their taste preference, if desired

Monday, April 29, 2013

The home gardens, Farmers’ Markets and Grocery Stores are laden with options aplenty for fresh salads and assuredly they’re not always consistently the same items.If you make a habit of growing/selecting a multiplicity of ingredients to keep on hand from the six categories below…you will have a tasty, balanced formula for making interesting salad combinations that you may not have thought of before.I am always concerned when one or more daughters changes their diet to vegetarian (no meat) and do want to make sure that they consume adequate protein.With this formula, it’s there…it’s all there on purpose stocked and ready to mix and match to make salad magic.Thus the name “Purpose Salad”, plus I would like to think that by being purposeful about eating healthy with local, sustainable ingredients that my/our purpose gets a little clearer.

Procure ingredients, wash veggies, fruit and prepare each item to advance to the state desired for salad readiness.Ex: if roasting veggies, slicing/grating cheese.Begin to layer in a visually appealing way starting with base and the next items go from largest to smallest, ending with nuts cheese and other small item toppings.Tip:Pre-moisten Base with dressing in a bowl before plating.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

It's late and we have just returned from visiting the "Country Mice". You see our dear friends Michael and Contina live way out where signals refuse to roam and legends of "Big Foot" are absolutely plausible. All kidding aside... Neil and I, the "City Mice", escape a couple of times a year to spend time with our friends and just "be". Sit on the dock, fish, walk in the woods, talk about the most trivial or important subjects of the day and admire the latest art works in process by our very creative friends. We always have a meal there too and tonight it was Contina's special grilled chicken using herbs from the garden. Being a "Southern Lady", I just can't show up empty handed... so I requested to bring a dessert. Cobbler is always a winner and in this case was very appreciated. I hope you have a chance to make it for your family and friends...guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of country mice and city mice alike.

Apple-Pear Cobbler(for the Country Mice)Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

4 Granny Smith Apples, washed, peeled, cored and sliced

3 Bosc Pears, washed, peeled, cored and sliced

Acidulated water (about 8 c water with 2 T lemon juice)

3 T cornstarch

1 c brown sugar (divided)

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t salt

4 t crystalized ginger, diced fine

4 T unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c Old Fashioned Oats

Whipped cream topping (Optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare fruit and place in container with acidulated water until all is processed.

Drain and dry the fruit with paper towels.

Place back in container, add cornstarch and with clean hands toss until well distributed.

In a small bowl, mix 1/2 c of brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until combined.Add to fruit and mix thoroughly.

Place in 11x7 baking dish.

Sprinkle ginger on top of fruit.

In small bowl combine butter, flour, remaining 1/2 c brown sugar, flour and oats, mixing again with clean hands and place over top of fruit.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.